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Subponica: Episode 9; The Lost River
By Terrarian Pony WARNING: Content of this story may include violence, gore, romance, same gender romance, ponies, references to several video games, and possibly PINKIE PIE! If anypony is offended by any of the content listed above, than please turn back now. You have been warned. Previously Next Story: Terrarian Pony presents... Subponica Episode 9 The Lost River ... Sapphire was in an interrogation room. Out of all her surviving crew members, she had been beaten the most. She even had scars from struggling. She hadn't been cooperative with the Federation Law Ponies, ever since they captured her and her crew. Ruby and Emerald had been the only ones who had escaped when the opportunity had presented itself, and now they were on Law Ponies' radar. Sapphire didn't say a single word to them. Instead, they just kept beating her into submission, specifically her, because they knew that only she knew something. Somthing the others didn't know. Something about the precursors. When they returned to Equestria from Planet 4546B, the Alterra HQ was being torn down, and the Law Ponies were there to arrest Sapphire and her friends, including Night Owl, despite her not being a member of Alterra, and even mentioning Princess Luna couldn't save her. Equestria was locked in a war with nearly every known creature that was once allied with Equestria, and there were riots in the streets, with desperate ponies. Economy had gone downhill, and the Federation Law Ponies had been doing everything they could to maintain order, but to no avail. So much had happened in so little time. A tall, grey unicorn stallion, with a black mane, and a cutie mark of a Law Pony insignia, entered the room. The Law Pony insignia consisted of a shield and two swords crossing behind it, with pegasus feathers hanging from the swords. Everypony who was an agent of the Law Ponies was required to go through a necromantic ritual, that forces a cutie mark to change it's appearance. Sapphire only stared at the officer, mentally ripping out his guts. His name was Corporal Alistar Grimshield. He sat down in front of Sapphire. Alistar:" I understand you have been... uncooperative, despite our uncanny efforts to break you into submission. The report says you haven't said a single word. My ponies have begun to think you are mute." Sapphire only stared in silence, blood rushing from her mane, and down her face. She didn't know how long it has been since she and her friends returned home from 4546B, but it was long enough for her to realize that wasn't getting out of here alive. But they couldn't kill her, not as long as they didn't know what she knew. Alistar:" One has to wander... what was on that planet, that you would not want us to know?" No response. Alistar sighed. Alistar:" You know... we do have other ways of getting ponies to talk. Take your little friends for example. We can, and will hurt them in front of you if necessary." Still no response. Alistar:" It looks like we may not get anywhere with you. I suppose I'll have to... bring in one of your closest friends. How 'bout we start with... oh, the mechanical engineer, Simon?" Sapphire said nothing. Alistar:" No? Hm. How about nopony, Brine?" No response. Alistar:" Or maybe..." Alistar paused a moment, for dramatic affect. Alistar:" The former cop? Clover?" Sapphire blinked, but tried to keep a firm expression. It was already too late, though. Alistar:" I see... so you are close friends with her. Interesting, despite her past. Did you know that she has been suspected for the murder of... Ellie the Kind? That's what the, uh... children at the Manehattan orphanage used to call her, you know, before she had an untimely death." Sapphire stared coldly at him. It was all she did each time she was interrogated. Alistar:" Very well... I suppose I have no choice." He began to get up from his seat. Alistar:" I truely did not want to have to come to this, but I'm afraid you leave me no choice..." Sapphire:" Chief Morning Star." Alistar looked back at Sapphire, one eyebrow raised. Sapphire:" I will only speak with Chief Morning Star." Alistar smirked, and slightly chuckled. Alistar:" So you can talk. How intriguing. Welcome back to the world, Miss Sea. I am sorry to inform you, that... Morning Star is retired. Ashame too, he was really good at this." Sapphire:" Well I don't care what you have to do. I will not say a word unless he hears it." Alistar's smirk faded. Alistar:" Very well." ... Sapphire was using the seamoth again. She was right back where she found the third Pegasee seabase. The caverns were awfully quiet. Even the warpers didn't seem to show themselves. Although, the same Crabsquid was still present, floating around the abandoned seabase. She had used her stasis rifle to hold it in place while she scanned it, but now she needed to find the disease research facility. Sapphire:" Now, if I were an underwater disease reseach facility, where would I be?" A warper appeared, but it didn't seem to notice her, so she went behind a large rock until it disappeared. Back on the search, she seemed to find a path to a completely different tunnel. What she saw in that tunnel could only be described as what looked like a cluster of brine pools, patches of concetrated salt bathing the ocean floor. As she got through the tunnel, it opened up to a much larger cavern, which was home to a whole underwater brine river. Hovering over it, were a while bunch of ghostly ray fish, whose internal organs were visible through their transparent skin. Sapphire:" Wow!" Jesse:" Terrain scans indicate this biome contains unusually high concentrations of organic and fossilized remains." Sapphire:" Thanks Jesse. I bet you're right. This area does seem pretty deep to go untouched by dead fossils." Sapphire leaped out of the seamoth, and swam towards the foggy river. Jesse:" Oh dear, Celestia. I hope you are not thinking of trying what I think you are trying. I'll save you the burning injury of a life time, and inform you that... yes, this brine river, is indeed acidic. Can you not tell, just by looking at it, you stupid pegasus?" Sapphire:" Oh come on, can't I for once figure out the scientific results on my own without you being my mom?" Jesse:" I am not your mom. And just as well, I could have stopped you back when you bit into that acid mushroom, but I didn't, and you complained. Now you are complaining that I am warning you of hazard risk. Make up your mind." Sapphire:" Yeah, I guess you have a point. Oh! I should get a scan of those ray things. They don't seem hostile." Sapphire scanned them, and Jesse classified it as "Ghost Ray". Sapphire:" I should keep moving. There's no telling what is down here." Jesse:" About time you are making some sense." Sapphire:" Jesse, I don't appreciate your input. I have to be down here. I have to find the disease research facility." Suddenly, a large, but thin creature, with an elongated body with many protrusions coming from both the top and bottom, turned up right in front of her. It had a spine-like structure, visible within a transparent body. It's head was a fleshy red color, featuring two round, yellow eyes, a large maw with many visible sharp teeth, and four tendrils trailing behind its head. The creature also seemed to be covered in many green spots. It's maw gripped the left wing of the seamoth, causing spraks from the circuitry. Sapphire barely panicked though, as she charged up the seamoth's perimeter defense system. Once it was at full charge, she released the built up energy into a shock wave, suddenly depleting some of the seamoth's power reserves, but just as well scaring off the creature. Jesse:" Upon collision with that River Prowler, it seemed to be infected with the same condition as both yourself, and the rest of the crew." Sapphire:" River Prowler? I thought you only come up with the names after I scan them." Jesse:" These creatures have already been downloaded into my database. A scan is not relevant." Sapphire:" When?" Jesse:" You told me to download everything I could find from the Pegasi survivors' PDAs." Sapphire:" Oh, right. Hold tight, I'm going to park here for repairs. The seamoth's hull took some damage." Jesse:" Right move, wrong timing." Sapphire:" I can't just leave it in this state." Sapphire got out, and began making repairs. After she set off again, she found a two-way fork in the cavern. The right would progress further into the caves, as where the left would take her to a large, open cave with a large fossil in the middle. A quick explore of the area had found it's way to Sapphire's to-do list. ... Meanwhile... Ruby:" What do you mean you love Simon?" Clover:" I-I don't know... it's just, he and I are two completely different ponies, yet... I feel a connection towards him." Ruby:" Clover, Simon is all wrong for you. You know that." Clover:" But what if we're wrong about him? What if all he wants is somepony to care about him?" Ruby:" The only friends he likes to make are machines, and those who think like him. Clover:" Ruby, why can't you support me? We're friends." Ruby:" I-it's not that I don't support you... I just don't think he feels the same about you." Clover:" And if he does?" Ruby:" Listen, I'm not saying it's not your decision... because it totally is. I just want you to be aware of what he's really like." Clover:" I am aware... I just, think there is more to his story." Ruby:" If you like him, I can't change your mind, and I can't stop you. I won't even try to. But if things don't work out for you, you can come to me." Clover:" I know... ... Night Owl and Simon stepped into the warper's prison room. It was emitting strange sounds, as if communicating with somepony, or some warper. Night Owl:" Stop that. You're spying on us, aren't you? Was this your objective? To get captured?" Warper:" This unit's objective is to eliminate the Kharaa bacterium. This unit will do so by any means necessary." Night Owl:" Well I have an objective, too. Maybe we can help each other." Warper:" This unit is not programmed to negotiate." Simon:" It's not a negotiation. I'm simply asking you to help me understand something. Ten years ago, there was another ship. The Pegasee." Warper:" This unit has not seen any foreign space crafts." Simon:" So you didn't see the ship that crashed into the ocean 10 years ago? Or that giant ship that crashed near a month ago? Warper:" Negative. Our operation started much deeper, from the deepest precursor facility. As we progressed, our units pushed further up to the grand reef, and stopped. The deep operation was spreading thin, and the leviathan lifeforms designated: 'ghost' became too overwhelming." Night Owl:" Ghost?" Simon:" Are you saying that there are far more dangerous leviathan class species than the reaper?" Warper:" Affirmative. Ghost reproduce much more commonly in the Lost River." Simon:" Wait, wait... is this Lost River a brine river just beneath the deep grand reef?" Warper:" The Lost River spreads across this entire continent of ocean. But I can confirm that the deep grand reef does lead to the Lost River." Simon:" Sapphire said she was headed back to the deep grand reef. Let's hope she doesn't go into the Lost River without us." Night Owl:" You've seen this Lost River?" Simon:" Once before. I left the group for a while, before Lunaray came. I had already built a prawnsuit at the time, and went pretty far into the lost river before. I should go and see if she's alright. I'll have to take the prawn with me." ... Meanwhile... Sapphire found another one of those beam doors. But instead of requiring a purple tablet, it required an orange tablet. Sapphire:" I suppose I'll have to come back to this later. But I should keep looking for the desease research facility." Jesse:" I am detecting something large, and alive deeper into these caverns." Sapphire:" I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Any idea what it is?" Jesse:" If I did, would I have described it as 'something large and alive'?" Sapphire tried to keep her distance from anymore River Prowlers as she headed deeper into the caverns. Eventually, she reached a much larger fossil area than before. The first thing she saw as she entered, were large mounds that were spewing heat. The second most attention grabbing thing she saw, was the largest skeleton of an aquatic creature she had ever seen. It's rib cage stretched over halfway across the cave. In fact, it was so large, it wouldn't even have had any room to swim down here when it was alive. That's how gigantic it was. Jesse:" Excuse me, ma'am. But if you are done gawking at that skeleton, you have an incoming call from '''Simon'. Do you want me to put him through?"'' Sapphire:" Go ahead." Simon:" Sapphire, where are you?" Sapphire:" I'm in a really large cavern system, with a whole brine river and everything." Simon:" Stay where you are! There is something down-" Suddenly, Sapphire heard a scream that almost matched the amount paralyzing chill of the reaper's roar, but the sound was much different. This creature was much bigger, and had a blue bioluminescent body. It was large enough to be a leviathan, and it's head was shaped like a hammer. It had two, menacing yellow eyes, and a mouth that was good for screaming, but not much for eating a whole seamoth. Yet, it's head would badly damage the hull if it hit her. It looked, and sounded angry. Simon:" What was that?" Sapphire:" Uh... S-simon... I'm going to have to call you back." Simon:" Wait, no-" Sapphire hung up, and slammed all her weight into the drive peddle. She ducked under the ghostly predator, as it screamed once more, and then swiveled left. The ghost made a flawless U-turn, and bashed into the left wing of the seamoth. Sapphire screamed in terror, and crashed into one of the leviathan fossil's ribs, breaking it in half. The seamoth was wobbly, but still operational. She tried to steady it, but the ghost just wasn't willing to let her recover, and bashed into the seamoth once more, sending it flying into a small nook in a wall. Sapphire was able to recover quickly, but she realized she had blood dripping from her mane. She tried to get the seamoth operational again, but it just wasn't moving. Sparks were flying everywhere from the exterior, and the seamoth was coming straight for her for it's last strike. Sapphire new she had to do something quickly, so she charged up the seamoth's perimeter defense system. Sapphire:" C'mon, c'mon! Faster!" The ghost was closing in quickly, when a shockwave of magical energy was emitted from the seamoth, causing the ghost to go blind for a moment, and swim up, hitting a piece of rock, just above the nook. The impact from the ghost's head, caused the nook to collapse in on the seamoth, crushing it. Sapphire was still alive, even after the collapse, but not for long. The glass was cracked, and water seeped through into the seamoth. Sapphire:" Oh no... that's bad. Really, really, really bad!" Sapphire was now hyperventilating. But there was one pony she just might have to count on. She called Simon. Sapphire:" Simon..." Simon:" Thank goodness! Sapphire, are you alright!?" Sapphire:" N-no... I'm trapped, and the seamoth is badly damaged, and... I'm going to drown in here." Tears escaped Sapphire's eyes as she realized the direness of her situation. Sapphire:" Please... help me! Hurry!" Simon:" I'm on my way!" Simon hung up, and began moving as fast as he pissibly could with the prawn suit. But the darn thing wasn't built for speed. Sapphire put her helmet on so she could at least have more time. Sapphire:" Jesse, do me a favor. Please. Record a message for me, in case I don't make it." Jesse:" I do not see the relevance of..." Sapphire:" PLEASE!" More tears flowed out, and she was now crying. Jesse:" Very well. Recording in 5... 4... 3... 2...1..." Sapphire:" To my crew, this is Sapphire Sea, of the Aurora crew. If you are listening to this, than... that means the worst has happened to me." Her voice was sincere, but her fear and sadness was apparent. Sapphire:" It is hard for me to admit it, even in my situation, but... I'm scared. I've always been scared on this planet. This whole time, I've been trying to hide it as best I could, because I was responsible for everypony when Kate died. I just want you to know that... I care... for each and every one of you. Some of you are a little rough around the edges, but you are all good ponies. I never gave up on you guys." Some of the cracks in the glass became larger, and the pool of water inside the seamoth began to rise even faster. Sapphire:" I don't have much time... so I need to say this now. I love you guys. I love you all! You are all like family to me! And much more than that! Simon, I hope when you get off this planet, you'll be known as the greatest engineer in Equestria. Clover, I hope you find somepony that will both love and care for you, because you deserve that much. Brine, I hope you find your calling. You're one of the best of us. And tell Jenny the same thing." Sapphire took in a deep breathe, and let out all her tears, as the water rose even higher. She pondered about how ironic it felt to die doing what she loved most. Sapphire:" Ruby... I love you with all my heart. I want you to know that. And I hope you live to get off this planet, and see our little filly grow up into somepony amazing." Sapphire finally thought about Emerald, and how she would grow up with only one mother. She thought about that for a long moment. She smiled faintly. Sapphire:" Emmy... My sweet, sweet Emmy. Mommy loves you. Don't forget that, okay. Please, don't ever forget that. I want to be there with you, so much. Out of all things I've accomplished on this planet... on any planet, you are the thing that I am most proud of. I'm sorry if you are hearing this... I just want you to know... to know... that no matter what, you are my sweet, sweet little Emmy. Goodbye, my dear. I love you, so much." Sapphire ended the recording, relieved to finally say all those things. ... Meanwhile, back at the sea base, everypony else was bored. They were all finding their own things to do. Ruby was with Emerald in her room, when suddenly, Emmy woke up from her nap. She blinked a few times, and sat up. Emerald:" M-mmom...me? Mommy?" Suddenly, tears filled her eyes, and Ruby began to notice her unusual actions. Emerald:" M-mommy! MOMMY!" Emmy began to cry, and Ruby rushed over to hug her. Ruby:" Emmy? Emmy, what's wrong? A-are you hungry? Oh, sweet Celestia..." But Emerald wouldn't stop crying. Instead, she kept saying that one word, over and over, as if she knew what was happening. ... Sapphire was scared, but thinking about Emerald was all she could do to keep smiling for her last moments of life. And she did smile, her face covered in tears, and relief. Her oxygen was getting low. 60 seconds low. This was where it ended. Or so she thought. She heard the tell tale sound of a drill against the rocks. Suddenly, a prawn suit drill arm ran through the rocks, and smashed them away. Simon used one of the drill arms to smash through the glass. He ejected from the prawn suit, and swam over to her. Sapphire:" I-I'm too week... I can't move." Simon:" Sit tight, I'll bring you to the prawn suit for air." Simon grabbed her hoof, and pulled her out. He held her firmly in his hooves, and placed her into the prawn suit. Sapphire:" I need... to rest for a moment. You should grab those seamoth upgrades so we don't have... to gather all those materials again." Simon:" You just stay put." Simon opened up the seamoth's module compartment, and took all of the upgrade modules. After he was done with that, he swam back over to the prawn, and loaded it's storage compartmen with the modules. Simon:" Do you have enough strength to drive." Sapphire:" I don't think so... I just feel... very... dizzy." Simon:" Move over. It's going to get a bit cramped." The ghost screamed again, indicating that it saw them. Simon hopped into the prawn suit, and used a grappling arm to get away. As they left the ghost's territory, it screamed one more time, and turned the other way, leaving them alone. ... Back at the sea base, Emerald was still crying. Ruby was doing everything she could, attempting to calm her, but to no avail. Even rocking Emmy in her hooves, and whispering to her didn't help. Ruby:" Oh, I wander what's gotten her so upset." Finally, Simon and Sapphire came through the bulkhead entrance to Emmy's bedroom. Sapphire was cold and wet still, and she looked very tired, and there was still a scar where she hit her head, but she was smiling. Because at that very moment, the only thing she saw was her adorable little shark pony filly. Ruby:" S-sapphire! What happened to you!?" Sapphire:" I'm okay. Simon saved my life. I would just like to lay down." Emerald's crying slowed, and she finally saw the one pony she wanted to see once more. She wiggled her hooves at the blue pegasus, trying to reach her. Emerald:" MOMMY! MOMMY!" Sapphire walked closer, slowly as to not trip and fall. When she was finally within Emmy's reach, Emmy hugged her nose. Finally, the filly stopped her crying, and resorted to sniffling. Sapphire:" Hey there. You were worried about me, weren't you?" Ruby:" I get it now. She wanted to be with you. That's all she wanted." Sapphire grabbed Emerald in her hooves, and hugged her back. Sapphire:" Hey kiddo. I'm sorry I left. You must have been so scared." Emerald finally smiled, and the whole room brightened. Simon began to walk away, and Sapphire turned her head to him. Sapphire:" Simon." Simon turned his head. Sapphire:" Thanks... I owe you one." Simon smiled slightly, then continued walking. Ruby:" Wait... Simon saved you?" Sapphire:" Simon was already on his way. He was trying to warned me about something he found out, but it was too late, and I got stuck. I was trapped, and... and scared." Ruby looked at how tired she was. Ruby:" We should get you into bed." Sapphire:" I'd like to sleep here tonight. I want to be with Emmy as much as possible." Ruby:" Alright." Ruby helped Sapphire into Emmy's bed, and Emmy hopped onto the bed all by herself. She looked worriedly at her mother. Emerald:" Mommy?" Sapphire:" I'll be okay, sweetie. Come hug mommy." Emerald stood there a moment, then happily rushed over to embrace Sapphire. Ruby smiled at the scene as her two favorite fillies drifted off to sleep. She walked out, and slowly closed the bulkhead door behind her. TO BE CONTINUED... Author's note: Hello everypony! Terrarian here. I can only hope that you are still reading this far. Seriously, if you're reading this, tell me what you think. Leave constructed criticism. Now I know my characters are literally impossible, blah blah blah, but honestly, I like it that way. It's more interesting. It gives me something to do, and if all my characters were to die, then it's not a good story. I'm trying to make this my most successful project. Anyways, I hope you are enjoying this series. Please, let me know what you think in the comments, and I will be back with a new episode soon, so don't worry yourselves. Category:Content (Terrarian Pony) Category:Fanfictions Category:Fanfiction (Fanon) Category:Fanfiction (Series) Category:Genre (Crossover)